Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make a comparative assessment of the adequacy of the protective approach to (a) the environment and (b) human health taken by (i) UK REACH and (ii) the EU.

UK REACH retains the fundamental approaches and key principles of EU REACH and aims to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment within Great Britain. There is a long-term monitoring and evaluation strategy in place for the implementation of UK REACH, which incorporates the impacts on human health and the environment. Having our own independent regulatory framework for chemicals allows us to identify the most pressing priorities which best reflect the specific circumstances in GB. The decisions we take are based on the best available evidence, including looking at approaches taken by chemical regimes across the world, including the EU.